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Jared Oates is a co-founder at Niche Academy. Teaching and learning are his lifelong passions, so creating a learning platform felt like a natural fit. His formal schooling ended with a Masters in English Rhetoric. Informal schooling began almost immediately as Jared became a self-taught software engineer and then an entrepreneur. He finds endless fascination in the ways people use technology to shape their future. 

Jared Oates

The best training to help leaders grapple with AI-related change is soft skills training, not tech training. 

The Best Way to Train Leaders for AI-Related Change

Would you say leaders in your organization tend to be more bold or more cautious when they make important decisions? Not sure? Here are a couple case studies for comparison.Case Study 1:A new CEO took the helm at a technology company and quickly eliminated 70 percent of the product line and announced a partnership with the company’s biggest rival.Case Study 2:At a different technology company, a new CEO was promoted from within, and instead of making bold changes, the CEO began methodically tuning the company culture and carefully analyzing trends and opportunities to refine the directional focus.AnalysisOn the surface, these case studies represent opposite leadership styles, one bold and one cautious. Which would you want to train for in your organization? Is it better to train leaders to measure twice or to teach them that fortune favors the bold?While they appear to be in conflict, caution and courage are both virtues. Knowing the outcomes of each case study adds some useful context.Case Study 1 describes the return of Steve Jobs to Apple in 1997. Jobs made the risky decision to focus on a few products like the iMac and formed a partnership with Microsoft to bring Microsoft Office software to Mac machines. Apple experienced extraordinary growth under Jobs’ second tenure.Case Study 2 describes the promotion of Satya Nadella to the top job at Microsoft. The company was struggling when he took over in 2014 and seemed to be on the fast track to irrelevance. Under his leadership, though, Microsoft has traded places with Apple as the world’s most valuable technology company.Effective Leaders Need Both Caution and CourageThe apparent contrast between courage and caution in these examples reveals a paradox, a tension between two necessary principles that on the surface appear to be contradictory. It’s tempting to dumb down the contrast and talk about different “leadership styles”—one bold, and one cautious, either of which can be effective. This explanation ignores the important reality that every effective leader needs both caution and courage. The traits are like two posts on a suspension bridge pulling in opposite directions. The tension between them is what keeps the bridge in place. For all his caution, Nadela placed big bets on AI, cloud services, mixed reality, and quantum computing. Some of those bets have not yet paid off. For all his boldness, Jobs was intensely data-driven in his obsession with the user experience, not just measuring twice, but hundreds of times and from multiple angles.Both Nadela and Jobs had big aspirational goals that, like a compass, pointed them in the direction they wanted to go. Jobs wanted to fundamentally reshape the way people use technology to create, interact, and find meaning. Nadela has a similar vision for Microsoft that is about empowering every individual and organization to achieve more by leveraging technology. Both leaders also knew they needed short-term achievable goals to measure progress toward those aspirational compass points.The Balance of Courage and CautionTo train effective leaders, you need to help them understand the balance between aspirational goals and achievable goals. They need to understand that all lasting progress is the result of an iterative process of goal setting, barrier analysis, behavior changing, and results evaluation. At Niche Academy, we call this the Progress Cycle.Effective leaders are not born. They are ordinary people who have come to understand and value paradoxes like the tension between courage and caution. Chances are that your team already has people ready to learn and implement the patterns that will move their team forward.

Bold vs. Cautious Leadership—Which Is the Best for Growth?

In today’s world, leadership ideas are shifting, challenging long-standing practices. The traditional “command and control” style, where leaders make all the decisions, is being replaced by trust and collaboration. Leaders are now moving away from micromanagement and embracing team autonomy. If you’re responsible for leadership training, it’s important to understand how adopting these new approaches early can have a big impact.Let’s break it down.A Lesson From Science: Big Ideas That Change EverythingTo understand the impact of big ideas in leadership, consider how major scientific breakthroughs transformed the world. For example:Galileo and Newton described how objects move through space and time.Maxwell and Lorentz built on their work, showing that the speed of light is constant regardless of how an observer moves.Einstein then developed his famous theory of relativity, leading to the discovery that a small amount of mass could be turned into enormous energy—this led to nuclear energy.These ideas didn’t come overnight, but their impact has been profound. Nuclear energy, for example, reshaped international politics and power dynamics, with countries that control nuclear energy gaining major advantages.How This Applies to LeadershipJust like those big scientific ideas, leadership is undergoing a transformation. For years, leaders have managed teams through strict top-down control. Leaders gave orders, and teams followed them. But this old way of leading is giving way to something new.The emerging leadership model is based on:Trust and Interdependence: Instead of controlling everything, leaders are learning to trust their teams to make decisions at the right levels.Clear Goals: Teams and leaders agree on measurable goals, and everyone is accountable for achieving them.Collaboration: Leaders work with their teams to make decisions, rather than just giving orders.A “Speak-Up” Culture: Leaders encourage open communication, knowing the best ideas can come from anywhere.Belonging Over Conformity: Leaders focus on building a sense of belonging within the team, instead of forcing everyone to fit a mold.This shift allows teams to make decisions faster, avoid micromanagement, and reduce internal politics. As a result, teams led by transformational leaders are far more productive.Why Leaders Should Adopt These New IdeasJim Collins, in his book Good to Great, describes transformational leaders as “Level 5” leaders. These leaders drive extraordinary results by empowering their teams through trust and accountability. The benefits of adopting these new leadership approaches are clear:Faster Decision Making: Routine decisions happen quickly because they’re made by the people closest to the situation.Less Bureaucracy: Reducing administrative overhead means less time wasted on politics or approval processes.Increased Productivity: Teams thrive when they have autonomy and a clear vision to guide them.Creating a Transformational Leadership Training ProgramTransformational leadership training involves more than just teaching concepts. It requires a strategic approach that encourages new behaviors and practices. There are four pillars to an effective training program:Set Goals
Teach leaders to understand the big-picture qualitative outcomes they’re after—and the metrics they will use to define progress transparently. Leaders must learn how to set team goals collaboratively and ensure individual goals are deeply aligned.Identify Barriers
Barriers can be external factors like market trends and technological disruption—or internal factors like team dynamics and individual habits. Leaders must learn how to create an environment for honest, sometimes difficult, conversations.Change Behavior 
Teach leaders to treat every change as an experiment and encourage teams to change together—creating an environment that nurtures progress patterns. Lasting team momentum requires individual understanding and consent. It can be inspired, but not coerced.Evaluate Results
Show leaders how to guide their teams in continually comparing performance against metrics, updating goals and experiments based on clear evidence.By implementing these pillars, you can help your leaders transition from traditional command-and-control styles to transformational leadership, significantly enhancing your organization’s productivity.

New Rules in Leadership: Overcoming Toxic Command and Control

Of all the possible training topics that can improve leadership skills and toxic work environments, one might surprise you. Teaching leaders how to communicate and manage conflict makes sense. But what about goal setting?Your leaders may be familiar with setting SMART goals, but do they know how to balance measurable and unmeasurable goals? Many organizations need a better balance between measurable (quantitative) and unmeasurable (qualitative) goals. As a result, leaders—and the people they lead—can’t say for sure where they’re going or work well together to get there. So, what’s the difference between quantitative and qualitative goals, and why is it important? Let’s take a look:Quantitative vs. Qualitative GoalsQuantitative goals are the things you measure, the metrics or the “how.” Usually, these numbers track changes in things like ratings, revenue, expenses, usage, and participation. But if you only set quantitative goals, they can become an end in themselves. It’s easy to lose track of why you do what you do and whether you’re measuring the right things.Qualitative goals are the end product of asking “why” you do what you do. If you ask why you send emails and, ultimately, why the organization exists, you’ll eventually come to important benefits for yourself, your customers, or a community. But if you only set qualitative goals, it’s difficult to organize a team and know whether you’re making progress.4-Step Pattern for Setting How & Why GoalsIf you want to develop high-impact leadership within your organization, teach your leaders the following goal-setting pattern that balances “how” and “why.” The pattern has four steps:1. Find the real “why.”To begin the goal-setting process, have individual team members review what they do during their workday and ask “why?” Why do I send these emails? Why am I creating this graphic? Why am I organizing that project? For each answer, ask why again, and continue until you can’t think of another reason behind an answer. When you get to this point, you’ve likely found your root “why”—your qualitative goal.A good “why” feels inspiring. It gives meaning to work, and meaning is an essential human need. Solid qualitative goals describe a benefit to some specific group. They give people a reason to work together.2. Find the metrics that matter.Once you have your “why,” you need a metric—a way to measure your progress. Some metrics have a direct relationship to the outcome. A city working on public safety can track violent crime statistics. Other metrics are indirectly correlated. A library working on adult literacy might track participation in an ESL program.Next, you need a clear way to track your metric over time. Consistent data collection is key. If leaders don’t understand the information’s value, they may view the process as a distraction from “real” work and not follow through. To help ensure consistency, teach leaders that healthy teams require real accountability—and how metrics show teams when they’re winning. Just be sure each metric ties back to a qualitative goal.3. Choose your experiments.Leaders need to understand that every deliverable, task, and project is an experiment in what will move the metrics that matter. It’s hard to know whether specific actions will make a difference. The question for every healthy team is this:To the best of our knowledge, what’s the best way to [increase/reduce] [metric you care about]? Some leaders are afraid to track metrics because they fear failures will discourage the team. The opposite is true. When teams learn to approach every action as an experiment, the outcome is learning. Every failed experiment gets you one step closer to what will work. 4. Evaluate your results.Metrics give you a way to learn what works and what doesn’t. Well-trained leaders know that with thoughtful experimentation, they will eventually find what works. Then, they can optimize it.They will also realize that some efforts won’t influence the metrics that matter. Paying attention to results helps leaders avoid setting goals to optimize something that shouldn’t be done in the first place.Teaching leaders to balance “how” and “why” goals is key to establishing a thriving workplace culture. 

1 Sure Training Topic for Better Leadership and Workplace Culture

Discover how a reliable and easy-to-use learning management system (LMS) can cut down your set-up time, allow you to customize learning content and measure outcomes in a snap, and let you experience the joys of great support.
During the event, you will learn how to:

Recognize the key features of a good LMS.
Identify useful tools and methods for measuring learning outcomes.
Distinguish how quality support improves return on investment (ROI).


DEMO: 3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Training's ROI

ATD Talent Development and Training in Healthcare Handbook (ATD Press, November 2021) addresses the many opportunities and challenges TD professionals face in the growing and rapidly changing healthcare space. Effective talent development is the thread that weaves through an entire healthcare organization to ensure it is up to standard with the latest practices in treating patients while providing a safe and engaging environment for staff. TD professionals have the unique role of tying together organizational and employee advancement in healthcare systems—and likewise, this handbook dives into areas for business and professional evolution.Written by 25 fellow healthcare practitioners with extensive experience in the field—from nurses, physicians, and administrators to instructional designers, chief learning officers, technology experts, and leaders across the industry—the book covers six key themes across 26 chapters:Learning and development basicsOrganization developmentEmployee developmentBusiness acumen for the health systemDigital transformation and literacyPatient-centric careLearn more about Scott Kashman, market president for St. Dominic’s and the Franciscan Missionaries of our Lady Health System (Jackson Market), and his chapters on leadership development, business acumen, and well-being in this spotlight Q&A.How have your experience(s) in leadership development, business acumen, and well-being shaped the best practices you shared?Leading with a strategic lens, being grounded in operations with the support of a healthy team provides a balanced leadership approach. Based upon experience, I find these three need to stay in harmony or else an organization will achieve inconsistent performance and team engagement.Leaders should engage the hearts and mind of their team by providing a clear vision and sharing the importance, purpose, and why behind the vision. Then they should step back, trust, empower, and support their team as they develop plans and achieve the collective goals. While it sounds basic, it is not always practiced consistently. If you re-enforce how much the team is valued, cared for, and connected, you will unleash the full potential of your organization.How do you foresee advancement of talent development in these areas within healthcare? (i.e. in an ideal world, how do you see this area flourishing for employee or organizational development)?Developing talent takes an ongoing commitment by healthcare leaders and organizational development specialists. Ensure leaders know how to coach other leaders and staff. Many leaders mentor others by telling them about their own experiences and having others shadow them. Learning to be leader-coach takes a different skill: being present and focused on the person you are developing. By asking questions, staying curious, and allowing others to find the answers within, you will create the necessary bandwidth to solve for new and emerging opportunities.What is something unexpected you learned while working on this book?Through this process, I had a chance to connect with other authors. It broadened my understanding of the many facets that contribute to talent development. I appreciated learning from my colleagues and applying these skills within my own leadership practice.Is there something professional or personal you are proud of accomplishing in the past year?Holding space for others to develop personally and professionally. Completing a coaching certification through the NeuroLeadership Institute helped me think differently about how to coach and develop others. For more than a year I was fortunate to develop a strong, healthy leadership team across my previous health system. This served as a foundation of collaboration and trust as we opened our incident command in March 2020 and started navigating through the pandemic. At the same time, we engaged our community partners and internal team to advance our quality, safety, and overall performance.What is a fun fact about yourself or one sentence of advice you’d like to share?Start with self. In the past, I ran many marathons, counseled patients as a psychiatric counselor, joined an improv comedy troupe, and worked on stage at a karaoke bar (and I’m a terrible singer). Each of these experiences shaped my leadership, focused on humility, strategy, operations, and the health of a team.

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